Glenda Taylor is a product tester and writer specializing in the construction, remodeling, and real estate industries. She and her husband own a general contracting company, and Taylor is experienced in both residential and commercial building applications. She tests a wide range of power tools as well as other home improvement, household, and lawn-and-garden products.

The bits feature SDS-plus shanks, and users will need a hammer drill to use them. The set comes with seven bits, ranging in size from 3/16 inch to 1/2 inch in diameter, making this a highly versatile set of masonry bits.

Masonry drill bits come in several variations, including rotary percussion, double flute, and saw drill bits. All bit types use large carbide tips that can penetrate stone. Some bits have spear-shaped tips that allow for precision drilling, while others feature a crown-shaped tip that can efficiently grind through masonry.

We liked the pointed tips on this set of bits as they kept the bit from skittering across the material when we started drilling, which made the process much easier. If you need to drill different size holes in masonry, these Bosch Bulldog bits are just the ticket.

This set comes with five bits, ranging in size from 3/16 inch to 1/2 inch. An included plastic bit case provides convenient storage.

A durable hard-plastic storage case keeps the bits organized and protected when in a tool box or on the workbench. Thanks to the visual holes in the holder that show the exact size hole each bit will drill, we found it easy to pick the correct-size bit at a glance. If you regularly drill into any type of masonry, you won’t go wrong with this set.

You can drill as soon as the concrete is completely hardened, but pros often wait a couple of days to ensure the concrete is ready. Unlike needing to wait before painting or applying a sealer, you don’t have to wait 28 days to drill.

Spending money on specialty concrete bits that see infrequent use may not be the most economical way of expanding one’s collection of drill bits. This EZArc multipurpose bit set offers an excellent alternative. The bits’ design and carbide tips make them suitable for drilling through tile, concrete, and stone plus metal, wood, and even plastic.

One of our tipsters sent in a great video showing how to make knives out of old broken drill bits. It comes from [The Art of Weapons] YouTube channel which is run by a 15 year old from the UK. He’s applying old techniques to modern technology and it’s awesome to see someone young with these skills.

Sorry City Hall had approved this project 6 months ago to install a new cellphone tower on your yard. You could have come to Hall Of Records basement to file a formal complaint 5 1/2 month ago.

Like higher-end bits, this set of Owl Tools bits comes with pointed tips to help keep the bit positioned when starting the hole. We tested the bits by drilling into brick, concrete, and stone, and they fared well. We felt they were just slightly slower than some of the other bits we tested, but drilling into masonry isn’t something to hurry along. We mainly wanted to see if they could withstand repeated drilling without breaking, and they did.

With carbide tips and a fluted design that bores through masonry, these Bosch Bulldog drill bits are some of the best on the market. Their four-flute design brought concrete dust up and out of the holes as we drilled, making the process smooth and quick.

The anvil should be 20 times heavier then the heaviest hammer used on it. An 140kg anvil is already bounces when I use my 10kg sledge hammer on it.

Most masonry drill bits are used in hammer drills or standard drills, but not all. The SHDIATool core bit is designed for use with an angle grinder, and we were impressed at how well it drilled.

Sharpening drill bits manually with a file or bench grinder is a complicated process. You need a machine specially designed for drill-bit sharpening to do it yourself. It’s usually easier to buy new drill bits.

Each bit has a wide spiral flute that bores evenly through stone, concrete, and brick. These bits will easily handle tough concrete-drilling jobs, but you’ll want to use a good drill for concrete—and it will need to be a rotary hammer drill with a minimum 7/8-inch chuck. We drilled several holes in quick succession, and the Makita bits performed flawlessly.

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The SHDIATool core bit excelled in our tests. To extend its useful life, users can spray the surface of the material they’re drilling with water, which will help keep the bit cool and reduce friction. This is the bit to have for drilling larger holes in concrete.

Drilling through masonry can be tough, requiring special drill bits for concrete that will hold up to the job. We recently tested seven different types of concrete drill bits in various sizes—using them to drill holes in concrete, brick, and stone.

If you are willing to buy steel, try 1.2419, 1.2519, 1.2516 or 1.2562, all tungsten alloy steels. These steels make a real difference when comparing to C70 or 1.2008, the more plain carbon steels.

I think he has been gathering serious followers, I’m seeing some new tools. Maybe apprenticeship or mentor has been helping him. Either way the dedication of posting the works and DIY are some of the finest explanations that you will NOT find from any of the old bitter or creepy weirdos that work at hardware stores.

[The Art of Weapons] I remembered watched him start off with melting Al cans can make a slingshot from a Styrofoam mold.

Personally I don’t like the HSS due to it’s large carbides caused by the alloying elements. Try using files (not RASPS). They are often made of 1.2008, expecially if you go for the high quality brands. You can forge them into damascene, if you like to use them as mono or laminated. I found these to give the much better blade, better to sharpen, keeping the edge longer.

Growing up I got in trouble because I was using a hammer to crush pebbles and nail wood together and the creep next door didn’t like that and told my folks. I was banned from using the household tools.

I guess it really cool to see “kids” reaching toward their own goals and projects without parents or retarded neighbors trying to force them to be conform or be copies.

These are slotted drive shaft (SDS) bits, meaning they will fit SDS-plus hammer drills, so we used a cordless Milwaukee rotary hammer drill for testing. This set has five pieces, including a 3/16-inch, 3/8-inch, and 1/2-inch bit and two 2¼-inch bits of different lengths. The carbide tips are rugged, and we could easily drill through concrete, brick, and stone.

This is the second set of Bosch drill bits to make our lineup, and we found these bits highly efficient. Their four-flute design excelled at ejecting dust and debris as we drilled, which made the drilling process smooth and quick. Their pointed tips kept the bits centered as we started the holes. We were able to drill clean holes in concrete, brick, and even dense stone without problems.

Masonry drill bits need to be hard enough to endure the rigors of drilling through concrete. With that in mind, most masonry drill bits have steel shafts with a cutting tip made of tungsten carbide, which is much harder than steel and can grind through stone without dulling quickly. Some drill bits use diamond particles, which are welded to the cutting edge to chew through hard surfaces such as marble and granite.

Haha if he swings that hammer all day he could probably handle half the nerds on this site. Id say he has manly skills.

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Before selecting the concrete drill bit sets we wanted to test, we researched more than 20 sets, looking for high-quality bits made from steel with carbide tips. We considered brand to an extent—after all, manufacturers like Bosch and Makita have top reputations for producing high-end power tools and accessories. Still, we didn’t automatically eliminate smaller or niche manufacturers if their masonry drill bit sets were highly rated by customers.

If you have additional questions about how to drill into concrete or choosing a drill bit for concrete or a drill bit for brick, you’ll find answers here.

Rail road track works pretty decently. But in general, you want your anvil to have mass. a 140-160lb anvil will do about anything you ever need to do. You want an anvil with good sharp face edges . An anvil should, next to a scribe, be the hardest tool you own. The body can be relatively soft steel, but ideally, you should have about a 1/2″ of hardened plate forge welded to the top. I don’t know of any company that makes these anymore, they’re all cast now. I had to check the Oracle of the internet, and found references of anvil faces needing to be around HRC 58-65. You don’t want your anvil to deform, you want what you’re hammering on to conform to the anvil face. The harder your anvil (within reason) the more that will happen. So, if you are able to forge weld plate to a big chunk of whatever. Then go for it. :) I use rail road track myself. But then I never do any large work.

When purchasing and using a drill bit for masonry, there are several important guidelines to follow to ensure a successful outcome.

The Owl Tools bits have standard smooth shanks to fit a regular drill. We didn’t notice any of the bits slipping as we applied pressure while drilling, as some smooth-shank bits tend to do.

For drilling jobs that require drilling through concrete or other stone surfaces, it’s important to use a drill bit that’s strong and sharp enough to bore through especially hard, dense material. Read on to learn about materials, bit type, drill compatibility, and other crucial factors to consider when choosing a masonry drill bit.

Sure it worked fine for a machine or tool repair. Now let’s see how tired you get and how well you shape something after 8-9 hours, wasting about 20% of you energy on moving the “anvil” or correcting how much you put into the workpiece because it’s not predictable. A proper anvil also is a tool holder and a die for making holes

I disagree, you can built an anvil, or at least a replacement. Anvils come at 12 Euros per kilo (approx. $7/lb), used starting from about a third. You can buy a steel rod 150mm diameter for less, this will often word as an anvil. Or you get a shorter rod (say 100mm long) and weld a tube to it. This tube you fill with lead (or concrete and steel scrap). But, as meep meep remarked: it must be solid.

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Repeated drilling through dense concrete and stone puts drill bits to the test, often wearing them down quickly. While these drill bits from Makita are more expensive than some masonry drill bit sets, in our tests, their thick tungsten carbide tips held up well for drilling several holes.

Glenda Taylor is a BobVila.com staff writer with a background in the residential remodeling, home building, and home improvement industries. She started writing for BobVila.com in 2016 and covers a range of topics, including construction methods, code compliance, tool use, and the latest news in the housing and real estate industries.

A durable hard-plastic carrying case keeps the bits organized and easy to transport to the worksite. It was one of the better cases we saw, as it held the bits securely and came with a sliding lock. This is an all-around great little set of drill bits for anyone who regularly needs to drill into concrete or other masonry materials.

Just compared to what I have done at that age or looking at the kids I know. Even if they cloned projects, it’s great to see them using their time for something this productive.

Just watch YouTube and they’re good to go. Kids have won science fairs and gotten nationwide press coverage for merely cloning stuff off YouTube (like that Braille printer kid)

Masonry drill bits come in a variety of sizes to suit a broad range of needs. The smallest masonry bits are around 3/16 inch in diameter, with larger bits topping out at the 1/2-inch size. Hole saw bits have sizes that go up to 4 inches or more.

But he doesn’t stop there: he also shows us his method of making handles for knives out of hardwood — its a pretty cool process and the finished knives are beautiful. The video below is a bit long, but well worth the watch if you’re interested in trying your own hand at forging.

When buying any type of drill bit, it’s important to consider its compatibility with the drill. Not all drill bits fit all drills. A 1/2-inch-size drill will fit drill bits with a shank up to 1/2 inch in diameter, while a 3/8-inch-size drill will only fit drill bits with shanks up to 3/8 inch in diameter.

While there is no single chuck or drill head for concrete bits, many concrete bits have a slotted drive system (SDS), which means they have slots on the ends of the shanks for use in rotary hammer drills. SDS bits came out decades ago, and today, an improved version (SDS-plus) is standard on bits for hammer drills. You can still find smooth-shank bits for standard drills and hex-shank bits that will fit standard drills and impact drivers.

To cover all bases, we tested bits that fit standard drills and impact drivers, as well as rotary hammer drills. We also tested a hole bit that fits a grinder. Ahead, learn which factors to consider when shopping for a cement drill bit, and find out how the following products earned a spot in our lineup of the best drill bits for concrete.

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With extra-wide U-shaped flutes, these drill bits from WorkPro effectively ejected masonry dust as we drilled in concrete, brick, and stone. The bits have Luxembourg carbide tips that are made to be tough, hard, and durable, and they drilled quickly in our tests.

Masonry drill bits are specifically designed to tackle stone and can bore through these hard surfaces with ease. Often featuring tungsten carbide tips that can endure drilling through hard stone surfaces, masonry drill bits have wide flutes that allow them to pull away large amounts of material as they drill to prevent debris from jamming the bit. Some bits even use diamond-encrusted blades to cut through this material. They come in a wide range of sizes to suit different needs.

Our favorite, thanks to its four-flute design and carbide tips, is the five-piece Bosch Bulldog Carbide Set for use in hammer drills, which are often used as masonry drills.

This set from Owl Tools includes 10 drill bits at an affordable price point. With its broad range of sizes, this set can handle most concrete drilling needs; bit sizes range from 1/8 inch to 1/2 inch in diameter, and we found them all to be durable and of good quality.

Very cool blowtorch forge. I wonder if you could build an anvil yourself. They always come in the form of a monstrous slab of metal, but the only working part seems to be the striking surface. Maybe you could get by with some plate steel and a sturdy base?

The following drill bits are well suited for drilling into concrete and other masonry materials. They withstood rigorous hands-on testing, and each set of bits performed well enough to make our list. You’ll find different sizes and types that fit different drills. There’s sure to be one for your concrete-drilling project.

it is by far not that difficult to forge HHS steel or other toolsteel. Compared to other steels the temperature range for forging is just smaller.

It’s really difficult for a normal person to get a (small) piece of railroad track here in Europe, (we have demented scrappers to thank for that) even when it makes a nice small anvil…

I’ve seen a 1′ section of railroad track nailed with railroad spikes to a large wooden stump. Seemed like a pretty clever way to make an anvil. Judging by googling “railroad track anvil,” it looks like a pretty widely used method, where you can get creative and grind down one side to a point. Looks like you could buy some sections of railroad rails on ebay, or save yourself the work (read: fun) and buy a harbor freight anvil.

This kit includes eight bits, ranging from 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch in diameter. The bits have SDS-plus shanks, so the user will need a rotary hammer drill to use them.

On the farm I worked at for a while, we had a three-foot section of a large I-beam we used as an anvil for various purposes. It was scrap from a bridge construction, about a foot tall and eight inches wide, and about an inch thick at it’s thinnest point. It worked fine for hammer-forging.

Some drill bits have coatings to improve their performance. Black oxide coatings are more durable than high-speed steel, as they resist rust and corrosion. Tungsten carbide coatings enhance the drill bit’s strength, enabling it to bore through stone and concrete.

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I guess the main point is to talk to the ones children and don’t let neighbors talk shit about them. Like. “Oh a DIY lathe/mill? What RPM will is spin at? How hot can the bits get? What is the plan in the event of a cat failure?” “Oh a forge? how hot? what are the emergency shutdown steps?”

In actual testing, we drilled through concrete, stone, and brick to see how well the drill bits fared. We used a standard DeWalt drill and a Milwaukee rotary hammer drill (depending on the individual drill bit shanks), and we drilled dozens of holes. We noted how well the bits performed and awarded points based on a rubric. After testing, we averaged the points to determine our best overall pick, and then we categorized the rest of the drill bits by their best usage.

For most standard bits, you don’t need to use water. However, if you’re using a large hole bit, spraying the surface of the concrete with water can reduce friction and help keep the bit cool as you drill.

We tried out a 1-inch hole bit, although these bits are available in several sizes to suit your specific needs from just under 3/4 inch to 4 inches in diameter. This is a diamond-coated drill bit; tiny diamond shards are laser welded to the tip, making it easy to drill through concrete and other types of masonry.

Parents in our days were more worried we’d poke out our eye with a fork. Now we aa parents prefer a eye patch kid verse one abused by schoolmates or other adults. As long as they aren’t trying to synth some hypertoxic chem or set a fire we are happy to let them do what make them happy.

Start by drilling a small guide hole at a low-speed setting for very hard concrete. Once you’ve established a 1/8-inch hole, remove the bit, blow the dust out of the hole, and use a larger bit at medium speed while applying steady pressure. It’s also a good idea to wear hearing protection—concrete drilling can be loud.

In addition to drilling through masonry, we tried out this set of bits on dimensional lumber and 8-gauge sheet metal. They were slightly slower on masonry than some of the dedicated bits we tried, but they still did the job. They excelled as drill bits for metal as long as we drilled nice and slow. It’s not every day you can pick up a set of good metal drill bits and use them to drill a hole in brick or concrete, but it’s possible with the EZArc bits.

In addition to carbide tips, the EZArc bits have multigrind sharp edges and double-flute design, which make them well suited for drilling in various materials. A hex shank adds even more versatility—these bits are compatible with standard drills and impact drivers. The kit includes five bits: 5/32 inch, 3/16 inch, 1/4 inch, 5/16 inch, and 3/8 inch.

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The beauty of this hack is aside from the tools you’ll need, it’s practically free to do. Worn out drill bit or other steel tool? No problem – heat it up and make something new. At the heart of this build is making your own forge. There’s lot of options, from using firebricks, to making a soup can forge like he did. From there, it’s really just a matter of annealing the steel (heating it up to red hot, and letting it cool down slowly in sand), and then heating it up again and forming it with a hammer and anvil.